Last October, the world watched in awe as Felix Baumgartner jumped from a tiny capsule almost 24 miles above the New Mexico desert. Writing for Vanity Fair, William Langewiesche details the extraordinary level of planning that went into the jump, in which Baumgartner became the first man to break the sound barrier outside of a vehicle. More interesting than the jump itself, however, is the mental challenges Baumgartner faces during the laborious three-hour ascent, and the four-minute descent.